Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Akos Bogdan, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  The oldest supermassive black hole yet discovered.

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John Batchelor and I welcomed Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics professor Dr. Akos Bogdan, who using the JWST with other team members, detected what is for now considered to be the oldest supermassive blackhole ever discovered in galaxy UHZ1.  In two Hotel Mars segments, Akos described the finding, explaining supermassive black holes in the center of galaxies, why they used the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to see it given a black hole sucks in all the light.  He also explained how they had to magnify the glow of the gas being emitted by using the x-ray observatory and nearby galaxies through gravitational lensing.  Later in the segment, he explained two black hole theories as to how one is formed.  Toward the end of the segment, John asked his favorite question which pertains to what the scientist would do next with an unlimited budget.  Listen carefully to how Akos responded but for the most part, he wants to search for more of these supermassive black holes as he suspects there are many out there that are older and can tell us lots and lots about the early universe.

Please post your comments/questions for Dr. Akos Bogdan and discussion on our blog for this show.

You can email Mr. Batchelor or Dr. Bogdan r through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Dr. Bogdan can also be reached through his faculty page in his department at the Harvard Smithsonian.